The game is a highly strategic and cat-themed version of Russian Roulette. Players draw cards until someone draws an exploding kitten card; at that point, that player explodes, is eliminated, and is out of the game. Unless that player has a defuse card in hand, which can defuse the exploding kitten card with items like laser pointers, belly rubs, or catnip sandwiches. All remaining cards in the deck are used to move, mitigate, or avoid the exploding kitten cards. Exploding Kittens made history on Kickstarter in 2015 when over 219,000 people helped fund the project.